Makeba decried hunger, violence in DR Congo during her final FAO mission
ROME, 10 November, Rome: The sudden death of South African singer and human rights activist Miriam Makeba, 76, after a concert in Italy has claimed the voice of one of FAOs most dedicated advocates, Director-General Jacques Diouf of the UN Food and Agricultural Agency said Monday.
– For nearly a decade, FAO Goodwill Ambassador Miriam Makeba was a strong supporter of FAOs fight to reduce hunger and improve the livelihoods of the worlds poorest people, Jacques Diouf said.
– Mama Africa spoke out against the violence, inequality and disease that kept many people, especially women and children, living in conditions of extreme poverty. We will miss her energy and her respectful concern for the worlds most vulnerable,” Diouf noted.
Makeba had been an FAO Goodwill Ambassador since 1999. Over the years, she had participated in a long list of events and concerts organized by FAO, including performances to raise funds for FAO TeleFood projects in South Africa, Jamaica and Spain.
Makeba was active in FAOs communications campaigns against hunger, both in interviews with the international news media and through public service announcements.
In April 2001, Makeba visited FAO post-emergency projects in Mozambique, increasing the visibility and impact of FAOs activities in Africa.
On her last official mission on behalf of FAO, in March 2008, Makeba travelled to the DR Congo to visit FAO emergency projects designed to help survivors of violence and HIV positive women and men feed their families and revive their livelihoods through farming.
Kilde: www.fao.org
BBC online writes:
Makeba came to international attention in 1959 during a tour of the United States with South African group the Manhattan Brothers and performed for President JF Kennedy at his birthday party in 1962. It was while living in exile in the US that she released her most famous songs, Pata Pata and the Click Song.
She was forced into exile soon after when her passport was revoked after starring in an anti-apartheid documentary and did not return to her native country until after Mr Mandela was released from prison in 1990.
In 1963, Makeba appeared before the UN Special Committee on Apartheid to call for an international boycott of South Africa. The South African government responded by banning her records, including Pata Pata and the Click Song.
She was African musics first world star blending different styles long before the phrase “world music” was coined. Makeba announced her retirement three years ago, but despite a series of farewell concerts she never stopped performing.
